Learn to code in Java and improve your programming and problem-solving skills. You will learn to design algorithms as well as develop and debug programs. Using custom open-source classes, you will write programs that access and transform images, websites, and other types of data. At the end of the course you will build a program that determines the popularity of different baby names in the US over time by analyzing comma separated value (CSV) files.
After completing this course you will be able to:
1. Edit, compile, and run a Java program;
2. Use conditionals and loops in a Java program;
3. Use Java API documentation in writing programs.
4. Debug a Java program using the scientific method;
5. Write a Java method to solve a specific problem;
6. Develop a set of test cases as part of developing a program;
7. Create a class with multiple methods that work together to solve a problem; and
8. Use divide-and-conquer design techniques for a program that uses multiple methods.

From the lesson

CSV Files and Basic Statistics in Java

A common format for storing tabular data (any data organized into columns and rows) is in comma separated values (CSV) files. In this module, you will learn how to analyze and manipulate data from multiple CSV data files using a powerful open-source software package: Apache Commons CSV. Using this library will empower you to solve problems that could prove too complex to solve with a spreadsheet. By the end of this module, you will be able to: (1) Use the open-source Apache Commons CSV package in your own Java programs; (2) Access data from one or many CSV files using Java; (3) Convert strings into numbers; (4) Understand how to use “null” in Java programs (when you want to represent “nothing”); (5) Devise an algorithm (and implement in Java) to answer questions about CSV data; and (6) Analyze CSV data across multiple CSV files (for example, find maximums, minimums, averages, and other simple statistical results).